Joe Cole: I want to bring the trophies to West Ham

The 31-year-old midfielder returned to his boyhood club in the January transfer window after he failed to nail down a place in the Liverpool side.

He progressed through the ranks at Upton Park but only ever tasted success in the Intertoto Cup.

Now Cole, who played the second half of West Ham's 3-0 win against Boreham Wood last night, wants to see the club improve on last season's top-10 finish and collect a winners' medal along the way.

Cole said: "I think the ambition of the club at the moment is improvement.

"But for me, personally, I would love to finish better than 10th but I would love to take this club to Wembley because at the end of the day they are the days you remember in your career - it would be a massive achievement.

"You look at Swansea and Wigan last year and that is their day, we would like a bit of that because it has been such a long time since West Ham have been there, so that would be nice."

Sam Allardyce led the Hammers to 10th on their return to the Premier League and has already added to his squad ahead of the new campaign.

“West Ham is a big club but it has been starved of success”

Joe Cole

The stand-out signings are those of Andy Carroll, who spent last season on loan at West Ham from Liverpool, and Romania captain Razvan Rat - brought in on a free transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Cole added: "It is a boost for the club and shows where we are going.

"Andy Carroll is a young, England centre-forward and clubs do not usually sell them and he is a big talent. He did a good job and we just want him to get fit and come back because he is a big part of our team.